Lone Star Princess
by Iverna
Summary: Set shortly before ANH - Leia is sent on a rebel mission to Corellia.
1. Chapter 1

_This story is set just before the events of A New Hope, and centers around Princess Leia as she is sent on a mission to Corellia. It ties in with the events depicted in the Star Wars radio drama. Let me know what you think, I'd love some criticism!  
_

* * *

The Royal House of Alderaan was a term generally used to refer to the Alderaanian Royalty in general, not a particular building. But if she imagined it as a building, Princess Leia Organa figured that her role was probably akin to that of a pillar, using all her strength to support it. Of course, that was true only as far as it went; as a member, she was herself part of what was being supported. But she had always rather liked the idea- it bespoke a solidarity and teamwork that Leia was very much a supporter of. That was not really surprising, she figured: having grown up on Alderaan, the ideas of solidarity and pacifism were ingrained into her very being.

All around her Leia could see symbols of the proverbial Alderaanian peace and beauty. The palace gardens in Aldera were nothing if not breathtakingly beautiful. They spread out between the white spires and domes that made up the royal palace, not exactly big but certainly providing some of the most picturesque man-made. scenery on the planet. On Alderaan, that was saying something.

At the moment, she was entirely alone in one of the small enclosed courtyards, just relaxing and enjoying the warm sun on her face. Really, she figured, she should be too young to savour occasions like these. She should be going out, enjoying herself, having a laugh with friends, like most young people her age. But the truth was that time on her own meant a chance to relax, to not have to deal with other people all the time. All her life, as far back as she could remember, she had always been very much in the public eye. Being royalty was at times like being a celebrity: constant media attention, constantly the subject of wild rumours. She was used to it by now, she could deal with it, but still there were times when she simply wanted to be alone.

And none of the other young people her age were engaged in politics to the degree that she was. Becoming a senator at sixteen years of age had been a tremendous accomplishment, and Leia was suitably proud of it. And she knew that the Alderaanian people took great interest in her doings and that she was very popular. Leia felt gratified by the warmth that people exhibited when they met her. It had always been like that, as far back as she could think. Yet living in the public eye all her life and becoming involved in politics from such an early age had its price. Leia had few friends, apart from Winter, the young girl who had lived with her most her life. Everyone else she knew well, like her aunts or some of the other senators, were significantly older. And only a few of the senators she knew were real friends. There had never been boyfriends for Leia, only Lord Tion who, if Leia had any say in it, would never be a boyfriend or anything else to her. Of course, her aunts had different ideas.

That was another aspect of Leia's life from which she often needed to get away. Her extended family lived either on the palace grounds or frequently came to visit. Leia had had to memorise long lists of cousins, great-aunts and other distant relatives, some of whom she had never even met. But knowing one's family tree was an important part of being royal on most planets. Leia was eternally grateful to her father when he announced his plans to appoint her to the Senate, and not just because she had always wanted to become a senator. It meant that she was left pretty much alone now in terms of marriage. Before she became a senator, her three aunts had been tireless in their efforts to find her a good husband- that was, one with good connections- but now that Leia was not just Bail Organa's daughter but a member of the Galactic Senate, things were different. Leia was glad of it; she could not imagine herself in her aunts' place, constantly involved in petty worries and clever machinations. Not that she didn't like them, they were all fond of her and she of them, but she was just different.

The whole issue of marriage had been a much-debated one in the Organa household for a while. At one stage all of Leia's aunts had been ill with her for days, after she'd exclaimed that one day, she'd marry a commoner, someone without a credit to his name, and then they'd see how far their plans had got them.

For once in her life, Leia had witnessed her aunts actually startled speechless.

Leia watched a small rubybird fluttering among the blue and purple lorania blooms. It flew right into one of the magnificent flowers, its small body vanishing inside completely. Moments later it re-emerged, flitting about some more before landing on the bench beside the young princess. Leia watched it glance around with glistening deep blue eyes, ruffling its brilliant red feathers that had given it its name. She knew better than to try and touch it; it would sense any such attempt and fly off straight away. Instead she just sat there, content with just looking at it.

Rubybirds were originally native to Caamas, but refugees from the planet had introduced them here after their planet was destroyed during the Clone Wars. Leia had seen survivors from that atrocity, living quietly on Alderaan now, and she'd been impressed by their quiet dignity, their peace-loving ways despite their people's cruel fate. If any species could truly belong on Alderaan, it was the Caamasi. There had never been an official announcement about the Caamasi refugees; it was a little-known fact in the galaxy that so many of them lived here on Alderaan. And there had never been a need for Bail to officially sanction them; the Alderaanian people had never complained. That was not in their nature.

"Your Highness?"

The voice was female, quiet, and surprisingly clear for its volume. Leia recognised it instantly, even before the speaker stepped out into the small courtyard. Winter was so calmly confident, projected such an aura of dignified poise, that many people meeting her and Leia automatically assumed that Winter was, in fact, Princess Leia of Alderaan. Long, pearly white hair cascaded down her straight back, and her simple light-green dress accentuated her pale green eyes and revealed a slender regal figure. Substantially taller than Leia, Winter's quietly mature demeanour made her the essence of what Alderaanian people were. And despite having grown up with her, Leia was frequently amazed anew by this woman.

"Winter! Is everything all right?"

"Oh yes, certainly." Leia noticed now that the older girl was excited, happy at the good news she was bringing.

"Your father's spaceship has just landed."

"What?" Leia jumped up, feeling excitement catch hold of her. "I thought he was still on Cor- I mean, Imperial Center!"

"So did I," Winter replied with a smile. "He never said that he was coming home."

Leia grinned. "Well, that's just stellar! Can I go see him straight away?"

Winter nodded. "Tarrik told me that your father wants to see you as soon as possible."

Leia's spirits sagged ever so slightly hearing that. "What, bad news?"

Winter could only shrug. "I know as much as you do, now."

"Well then, let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh father, welcome home."

The court had been dismissed and only Winter remained, standing to the side while she waited for father and daughter to finish their greeting. Leia hugged her father affectionately, then smiled up at him. "I had no idea you were coming home already. Why didn't you tell me?"

Bail smiled back at her. He was a tall man, distinguished and poised, with hair as dark as Leia's and a decidedly aristocratic face. He was also the kindest man Leia knew, and her role model in politics.

"Well, partly because I know you like surprises, and partly because I didn't want to get hung on some last-minute request. My departure from Imperial Center was not widely known or announced."

Leia nodded. "Of course."

She was not naive enough to ask why he couldn't have just told her. She knew that there was no secure channel out of Coruscant these days- except maybe Palpatine's own- and Leia would have been honestly surprised if her father's quarters were not being monitored somehow. Palpatine's minions were ingenious when it came to espionage.  
But there was something else. "Winter said you wanted to see me as soon as possible. Is something wrong?"  
He raised his dark eyebrows. "No. Does there have to be something wrong for me to want to see you?"

Her worries appeased, she smiled. "No, of course not."

"Though there are news, of course," he continued. "But first- hello, Winter. It's wonderful to see you again."

The young woman smiled as she embraced the man who had become a second father to her. "Welcome home, Your Majesty. I'm glad you're back."

Bail smiled at her. "So am I, Winter. So am I. But now come along you two. We need to talk."

Leia and Winter sat side by side on a comfortable couch made of real nerf leather, looking at Bail expectantly.

As usual, it was Leia who spoke first. "Well Father? How did the conference go?"

"Oh, the conference worries me little, my dear. It went just about as I expected it to- full of noisy, heated debates and injured egos, neither of which got anyone anywhere."

Leia had to laugh. "Sounds like a typical day in the Senate these days."

"Is a solution that hard to find?" Winter asked, sounding a bit dubious. "I had thought the issue was a simple one."

Bail nodded. "We don't lack solutions. It's a simple matter of sending a committee to assess the situation, calming down a few enraged locals and passing the necessary resolution. But I don't think that the situation in the Empress Teta system has anything to do with the current situation in the Senate. It's just an excuse."  
Winter nodded. "Things are heating up, aren't they?"

"Yes. Rebellion is never far from anyone's mind- and one look at the Emperor and you have a good reason. And rumours are spreading like wildfire. I mean, most people suspect a rebellion at this stage."

"Well, as long as Palpatine doesn't..." Leia muttered.

"I'd be surprised if he didn't," Bail said. "He has plenty of evidence after all, and whatever you might say about him, he is no fool. He just doesn't take it seriously."

Leia shrugged. "Well it comes to the same thing, for now anyway. And if the Force is with us, he'll only realise the threat when it's too late."

"Yes. Then let's hope that the Force will, indeed, be with us." Bail seemed sad for just a whisper of a moment, but he smiled.

"And by the time he notices," Leia continued, "hopefully the rebellion will have spread enough and be well enough equipped to be able to stand up to the Imperial Navy."

This time there was definitely sadness in Bail's even features. "Yes, I suppose we must hope so."

Seeing the sadness in her father's face, Leia felt profoundly sorry for him, and even a little guilty for having convinced him to be a part of this. She knew very well that for an Alderaanian girl she was unusually quick-tempered, a trait that none of her diplomatic training seemed to have had any effect on. For all her pacifist upbringing, she no longer believed that reason and logic alone could bring the Republic back. Emperor Palpatine had already done too much harm. So Leia had argued forcefully in favour of an armed rebellion, even though she hated the thought of war. Three years ago, thanks to the combined actions and arguments of Corellian leader Bria Tharen, Garm Bel Iblis and Leia herself, Bail Organa had realised the bitter truth, and signed the Corellian Treaty. He had also contracted a Weapons Master for Leia, and she and Winter trained in the use of weapons as regularly as their spare time allowed.

On impulse, she stood up to give him a hug. "I'm sorry, Father. But you know how important it is."

He stroked her hair in the gesture he'd employed so often over the years. "I know that, Leia. It aches my heart sometimes, but I know it's true."

She smiled at him, a little ruefully. "We'll make it through, you know. Someday everything's going to be back to normal."

"I'll hope for that," Winter added.

Bail smiled and sat Leia on his lap. Even now at eighteen, she was still small enough to fit comfortably. Her lack of height was a cause of some regret to her, but she had accepted it at this stage. There wasn't much she could've done about it anyway.

Silence reigned in the room for a while, but Bail broke it.

"Listen, you two... I've received a message from Corellia. It came through the usual channels. The rebels there have requested a meeting with you, Leia."

Leia frowned. "A meeting? About what?

"I don't know details, Leia. But I do know that they wouldn't ask you to go to that kind of risk if there was a safer way. And Winter- Commander Torbul wants to know if Targeter can help them with a raid on Talfaglio."

Winter nodded. Her "Targeter" missions had earned her the respect of many rebel leaders over the past two years. They involved little, really; she would be smuggled into a warehouse or base under some excuse, then memorise the layout of the building as exactly as she could manage. It gave subsequent rebel raids that much more security, as the rebels would know where to hit, where to concentrate on, what to watch out for. Winter's memory was a gift not to be underestimated- the rebellion valued her perfect memory highly.

"You'll be taking the Tantive IV, and you will also be delivering more supplies to Talus. Antilles is picking the shipment up on Thaan as we speak." It seemed that Bail Organa had already organised everything within an hour of being back in the system.

"So the Tantive's delivery will be at the same time as a raid in the same system?" Leia asked, dubious. "Do you think that's wise, Father?"

Bail looked at her. "Winter will be travelling in the Tantive on the way back to Alderaan. You'll be getting off on Talus, pretending that Winter was on the Tantive all along. You know that only a member of the Royal House can ride in that ship. You'll be returning by commercial vehicle, incognito. I don't much like the idea, but I know that it's necessary."

Leia just nodded. "Of course, I understand."

"My girls," Bail sighed. "Off to face danger again."

Leia gave him an encouraging smile. "Don't worry Father, we'll be fine. And besides- we're rebels. That means facing danger."

Bail smiled back, but Leia could tell that he wasn't really encouraged at all.

"It's for Alderaan," she said. "For Alderaan, and the rest of the galaxy."

Bail looked at the two young women. "For Alderaan," he repeated. "I'm proud of both of you."


	3. Chapter 3

The man was a wreck. Had he not been strapped to the machine, he would have surely fallen over. Still, even in the state he was in, he still proved extremely reluctant to reveal the information he was being probed for. His screams echoed in the small room, inarticulate roars of pain that held no information at all- except for the fact that he was in great pain. But that was not the kind of information General Devat was looking for. He had never had much time for receiving information he already had. He wanted answers, not screams.

Not that he didn't feel sorry for the rebel in the interrogation machine. He was not a heartless monster, he was a man. He had witnessed and overseen enough of these sessions to be able to shut out the knowledge of how painful they were for the prisoner. Most of the time, anyway; barring that, he could at least ignore it.

But this prisoner seemed loath to reveal anything at all, even the most basic information. He was a man of formidable defences. Devat had heard that the rebels underwent training to boost their resistance and improve their memory. Apparently, he was just seeing the proof to those rumours.

There was a knock at the door. Devat turned to see a young ensign standing there, ramrod straight and patient.

"Well, what is it?"

"Sir, Intelligence just finished this report. I thought you should see it."

"Show me."

The ensign handed him a datapad. Devat's brows drew together thoughtfully as he read the report, then he looked at the ensign. "Very good, Ensign, very good indeed."

The ensign smiled faintly. "Thank you, sir."

Devat loaded the file into his own datapad and handed the ensign back his. "Convey my compliments to the chief of Intelligence, and tell him to keep me informed of any changes. I want to know the minute one of those people moves, understood?"

The ensign nodded once, curtly. "Yessir."

"Good work, Ensign. Dismissed."

The ensign turned smartly and left the room. Devat considered the report he'd just received and the possibilities it offered. He did not like threatening the lives of innocent citizens, but in this case he found it hard to come up with alternatives. He was running out of time and options.

He signalled the nearest guard to stop the session. The anonymous, white-clad figure stepped over and triggered several switches. The sparks and screams coming from the machine stopped simultaneously. Devat stepped over until he could look the rebel in the eyes.

"Still resisting?" he asked.

The man's eyes glared fire and ice at the general. "You're getting nothing from me, you son of a vrelt. Nothing, even if you kill me."

Devat steeled himself for what he was about to do to the man.

"Not you. I still need you. But you do have a wife, don't you? A family?"

The rebel covered his shock well, Devat noted. If he hadn't been prepared for it, he might've missed it entirely. "I ain't got a family, you spawn of Sith. They're all dead, my parents died when I was little."

Devat shook his head. "Not dead. Not yet. And you can save them."

"I tell you, I don't have a family!"

Devat produced his datapad, held it so the man could see the pictures, read the words. "This is your daughter, Sharyl. Your wife, Naena. And only you can save their lives- or kill them. It's your decision."

The man looked at him, cursing a blue streak of Corellian curses that Devat had not heard in at least twenty years. Devat only hoped that the man's devotion to the rebellion was not such that he would sacrifice his family for it.

His hope was not in vain. The man who had successfully withstood the severest interrogation the Empire had to offer was undone by his love for his family. Devat felt profoundly sorry for the man, understanding his dilemma, but also profoundly relieved that the family would be safe.

The rebel broke then and there, keening and cursing and yelling profanities at Imperials in general and Devat in particular. Devat could've gone outside, but he stayed and listened. Why, he didn't know- maybe to make himself pay for what he was doing to the rebel. But he had won - they both knew it.

Devat had the rebel freed from the interrogation device and brought back to his cell, still cursing and yelling. Every officer or stormtrooper they passed along the way was enough to set him off again. Devat strode along behind the contingent, ignoring the Imperial stares and the rebel curses.

"Now," he said, standing just inside the cell, looking at the rebel sitting on the pallet. "What of those antiques, and who is to carry them?"

The man looked like he was about to close up again, then seemed to remember and glared at Devat like a trapped garu bear. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"If you don't, you're useless and you die along with you wife and daughter. If you do, you and they will survive. Consider your last answer. I'm giving you one more chance. Who carries them?"

"I don't know who has them now."

"Who will have them?"

The rebel sighed and was silent for several minutes. When he finally spoke, it was a hoarse whisper, traitorous words sounding loud in the silent cell. "Seila Charrd."

* * *

The stars streaked back to become pinpricks of light once more as the _Tantive IV_ reverted to normalspace. Directly ahead, Talus hung in the blackness of space, half-lit by the light of Corell, its sun. Beyond it, Leia could just barely make out Tralus, the "twin" of Talus. The "Double Worlds", as they were called, provided a unique spectacle as they revolved around each other in synchronous orbit. At their barycentre - even though it didn't look like the centre from Leia's angle of view - a glint of silver marked Centerpoint Station, a huge space station that had yet to find any to rival it in this galaxy. There could be no doubt at all that the Corellian system was one of the most unusual solar systems in the galaxy - five worlds, all of them inhabited, and two of which were in synchronous orbit, made sure of that.

As the _Tantive_ neared the planet, the speakers crackled to life with a predictable request.

"Unidentified ship, this is Talus Traffic Control. Please identify yourself."

The voice was male, firm, and held authority. Leia found one more reminder of the Empire's bureaucratic, militaristic presence in it. But then, she found such reminders in a lot of things these days. It was at that hardly surprising - the Empire's presence was ubiquitous, both in the galaxy and in her mind.

"Control, this is the _Tantive IV_, captain Antilles speaking. Requesting clearance to land."

As always nowadays, Leia's stomach tingled with apprehension as she anticipated Control's reply.

"_Tantive IV_, state your business on Talus," Control came back.

That wasn't a routine enquiry. Leia's worry level immediately jumped several notches. But she remained calm- outwardly at least. No sense in letting it show and making the crew more nervous than they likely were already.

Winter touched her arm, clearly wanting to calm her down. Ever since she had come aboard, a vacuum transfer in space between Talus and Talfaglio, Leia's spirits had risen considerably - along with everyone else's. The rebel attack on an Imperial weapons cache on Talfaglio had been a complete success. The rebels had made off with blasters, concussion grenades and even an ion cannon before anyone even turned up at the scene. CorSec was on their tails, and apparently the Diktat was furious, but Winter was sure that they wouldn't be caught. Red Hand Squadron was one of the best in the Corellian Resistance.

"We are a consular ship on a diplomatic mission," Antilles said into the audio pickup.

There was silence at the other end, and Leia mentally crossed her fingers as it dragged.

"Affirmative,_Tantive IV_, you're cleared to proceed. Sorry for the delay. Transmitting co-ordinates now." Control sounded slightly subdued now. "Welcome to Talus."

"Thank you, Control," Antilles said, before signing off and letting out a sigh of relief.

Leia did likewise. "Well, that worked."

"Thankfully," Antilles added. "But that's Corellians for you - suspicious as anything."

Leia could only agree, really. However, there was one huge advantage to the Corellian system - the Empire kept its presence here to a minimum. The Diktat gave them ships and troops, and in return he was pretty much free to run the system. For a system so close to Coruscant, Imperial forces were surprisingly scarce. Of course, that held huge advantages where rebel activity was concerned.

Still, Control appeared unusually jumpy today... Leia fought an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had to get on with it. Besides, a rebel raid in the Sector tended to have all the officials on their toes.

"What's our ETA?" she asked.

"We should be docked in less than an hour, Your Highness." Antilles, busy at his station, did not turn around when he spoke to her. He knew her well enough by now, and she him, that he no longer had to stick completely to etiquette - except of course in public.

"Very well, I'll be in my cabin. Please call me when we've cleared atmosphere."

"Yes, Your Highness."


	4. Chapter 4

Leia stood in line, waiting to board the interplanetary shuttle Coronet Star. In the hour since she'd left the _Tantive IV_ she had changed from Princess Leia Organa to Seila Charrd, a low-income ship mechanic from Corellia. She was suitably dressed for the role - shabby, grease-smeared coveralls and scuffed black boots, complemented by comlink, multitool and other gadgets hanging from her belt. Her long hair was caught up in a messy bun at the nape of her neck, having been streaked with blond and made slightly dusty. Her ID confirmed what her looks suggested - Seila Charrd had forsaken university or college due to lack of finances and lack of enthusiasm to pursue her dream of becoming a pilot. She worked wherever the opportunity presented itself, mostly on Corellia, in an effort to scrounge up enough credits to afford the pilot training she needed.

And now, she was en route to Corellia once again after a short stay at her uncle's.

Once she reached the end of the line, she ran her ticket through the scanner and boarded the shuttle. Inside, many people already sat, ready for lift-off. Conversation hummed in the compartment and somewhere a baby was crying. Leia took a seat by a viewport and stared out at the landing field as she waited.  
This operation had better work...

She gave herself a mental shake. No sense in worrying about it; if she seemed edgy it would only make her more suspect. The rebels on Talus had been nothing if not efficient. She had crept out of the _Tantive_ via a hidden exit disguised as a lifepod, and been furnished with fake ID, an appropriate disguise, and instructions in the space of one hour.

"Excuse me, miss."

The man's voice caused her to abandon her thoughts and look up.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

She smiled, reminding herself that she was not a princess at the moment. She had never learned conversation.

"Course not, go ahead," she said.

"Cheers." He hung his coat over the back support and sat down. "Corran Horn."

He extended his hand across the seat and grinned easily. She shook his hand and smiled back.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Seila Charrd."

She studied him. He was a typical Corellian, with brown hair, green eyes and plenty of confidence, and wore normal civilian clothing - tunic, pants and boots.

He chatted away to her during the hour-long transition, and she was glad of the company - it stopped her worrying about certain other things. And there was something about him that made her trust him. She didn't know what it was, probably something in the way he behaved, maybe his body language.

"It was lovely meeting you," he told her as they were getting ready to disembark.

She smiled. "Yeah, same here."

"Well, our paths may cross again," he said. It was just a phrase, one of those parting niceties, but Leia felt an odd sense of premonition hearing it, without rightly knowing what she was feeling.

"They may," she said, and then he disappeared into the crowd.

_They may_.

She looked around as she let herself be swept along by the crowd, trying to find her contact. She entered the lobby and tried to look as if she knew exactly where she was going.

"Seila!"

She turned towards the voice and saw a young man waving at her, grinning and obviously Corellian. She hurried towards him and hugged him. "Renn, how are you?"

"Fine, just fine. How was your break?"

"Oh, it went okay. Uncle Parche is still as vibrant as ever, he had me ready to walk asteroids after two days, but then I expected no less of him."

He laughed. "Yeah, sounds like him. Well anyway, welcome back. Come on, let's go."

He carried her bag out for her, chatting away to her like the friend he was supposed to be. They got into his landspeeder and he started driving away from the spaceport.

* * *

"Welcome to Corellia," Commander Dren said warmly. Leia shook his hand. She knew Veego Dren personally, having met him several times over the past year, and she trusted him absolutely.

"Thank you, Commander.

"Did everything go according to plan?" Dren asked Leia's contact, seeming anxious.

Renn Triden nodded, grinning easily. "Yessir, no problem."

"Very good, indeed. Now, Your Highness, if you'll follow me..."

She followed the commander into a small back room, aware of Renn Triden following right behind her. Two people, a woman and a female Selonian, sat at a small table in standard-issue, simple military chairs that were as drab and hard as they were cheap. Luxury was not exactly a priority among the rebels.

They stood on seeing the others enter, and the woman smiled. The Selonian's expression was somewhat harder to read. Selonians were native to the planet Selonia, the one closest to Corellia. They looked vaguely reptilian, and theory had it that they had evolved from mammals native to the Selonian oceans. Their long snouts full of sharp teeth and strong muscular tails made them a lot more dangerous-looking than other inhabitants of the Corellian Sector. One look at either the tail or the teeth was enough to make any attacker reconsider. Maybe that was why the Empire had left them pretty much alone, Leia mused. Also, they were notoriously paranoid, but honest and honourable to a fault.

"Welcome, Your Highness," the woman greeted, coming around the table to shake Leia's hand.

Leia smiled. "Thank you."

"Your Highness, may I introduce Khaneen Falle and Shrakul of the Travvarzuc den," Dren spoke up.

Leia and Khaneen shook hands.

"Apologies," Shrakul spoke up. "But mine Basic is not very well good."

Leia smiled up at that mouth full of teeth, glad that Shrakul was on her side. "It is nothing," she said in Selonian. "Greetings, honoured Shrakul."

"Greetings, Your Highness. Your command of my language honours and delights me greatly." Shrakul seemed relieved and somewhat surprised at Leia's knowledge of the Selonian language. But Leia's training as a politician had included learning a multitude of languages, and Selonian was not all that hard to learn once you got used to it.

"Please, sit down, everyone," Khaneen said. The five of them gathered around the table and a droid that looked absolutely ancient served drinks. Leia was suspicious of the stuff at first, but one taste and her doubts discarded. She was on Corellia after all, and even bad Corellian whiskey was still quite good by galactic standards.

She answered plenty of questions about the Senate and its current moods and asked plenty about the Corellian resistance. Things were just about as she had expected. Fortunately, the Rebellion was not an organisation that tended to mince words, so she found out the reason that she was here quite soon.

"There have been reports," Commander Dren said. "I don't know a lot of the specifics, because it was mostly handled by Commander Torbul and his people, but I do know that they've sent several Intelligence teams to Ralltiir. They need supplies, Your Highness, and the _Tantive IV_ is just about the only ship in the Alliance who can deliver them."

Leia nodded. "Of course. What's so important on Ralltiir?"

"As I said, I don't know the specifics. But whatever it is, it's very important. It's all highly classified, you understand, so even if I did know I probably couldn't tell you."

Leia nodded again. "I understand."

"There is something else. You have probably heard of the raid on Ylesia?"

"Yes," she acknowledged. The raid had made HoloNet news all over the galaxy. Red Hand Squadron had formed an unlikely alliance with several smugglers and other thugs from Nar Shaddaa and assaulted Ylesia, shutting the slave/pilgrimage scam down for good. Leia did not know details, and she didn't know what the rebels had found on the swampy humid world, but she could make an educated guess. After all, the planet had run a scam whereby the so-called priests and their made-up religion attracted pilgrims, only to use them as slaves in their spice factories.

Leia had no proof, but not for a minute did she believe that the rebels had simply destroyed the entire place. Much of the spice, she suspected, was even now in rebel hands. Leia did not approve of either the spice trade or of the smugglers who profited from it, and she doubted that the High Command would approve of selling spice to finance the rebellion. But then again, she reasoned, they weren't going to object to the credits that the whole thing would bring in, and if Red Hand Squadron had the opportunity to make that much money, then she couldn't blame them for seizing it. She had decided to keep quiet about her suspicions. And then, smugglers were still a considerable deal better than Imperials.

"It was a great accomplishment," she continued. "Red Hand Squadron did a tremendous job."

It certainly sounded like they had been busy over the last few weeks, anyway.

There were nods all around the table.

"Commander Tharen is one of the best," Khaneen added. Leia had heard that all right, but she had never had the chance to meet Bria Tharen, the famed leader of the equally famed Red Hand Squadron.

"They succeeded in taking a considerable amount of antiques," Dren told her.

Leia could feel her eyebrows rising. "Antiques? On a world of illegal spice trade and slavery?"

But Khaneen was nodding. "Apparently, one of the priests had a collection of antiques."

"A slave trader with a taste for antiques," Leia mused. "That certainly sounds like a strange combination."

Renn Triden grinned. "Well, if you think about it, a guy with a taste for antiques will find it easier to accept... donations... than a guy who prefers cash. It's a convenient way to hide bribes, and if he needs money he can get it by selling stuff legally."

Leia was put off by the notion. It was something she had not even thought remotely about. To her, antiques were rare and valuable artefacts to be displayed in a museum, where the public could learn from them. It was a typical Alderaanian stance on the matter, she realised. And Ylesia had been a Hutt operation, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to learn of corruptness forming a part of it.

"I see," she said neutrally. "So Red Hand Squadron have them now, yes?"

Dren nodded. "Yes. The one problem is, we can't sell them here. Much of it is sold already, to various museums and antiques dealers. But we can't have all these antiques suddenly appearing out of nowhere without people getting suspicious. Especially seeing as some of them were reported stolen. If we start selling them, that makes us suspect. Of course we didn't do it, and of course we can very probably prove that fact too, but nevertheless questions will be asked. At the very least, we will attract attention to ourselves. And frankly, we don't want that kind of attention."

Leia nodded. "Yes, of course, I understand that. And Alderaan is the galactic centre for culture and learning, and I have strong ties to representatives of all of the aspects of that culture. Is that it?"

Dren smiled. "That's it, Your Highness. We need you to bring a selection of the artefacts back to Alderaan with you."

Leia nodded. It all made perfect sense, of course. And compared to some of the other missions she'd been on, this one ought to be easy.

"I'll do it," she said.

"Brilliant," Khaneen told her with a smile.

"You'll be travelling back to Alderaan on the _Lone Star Princess_," Dren said. "The antiques will be hidden in your luggage."

"And they won't be found?" Leia asked, a bit dubious at the simplicity of that solution. The scanners used by the civilian starship liners could not hope to rival those of the military, but still they were formidable and notoriously hard to get past.

"Oh, it's all been prepared. The technology of scanner-proof compartments is generally only used by smugglers, but there is a lot the rebellion can learn from smugglers. Your luggage will withstand everything short of a detailed inspection by specialists who know what they're looking for."

Leia was still not entirely convinced. "It comes from smugglers," she reiterated. "Are you sure it's sound?"

"Smugglers are good at nothing if not at looking after themselves," Renn Triden spoke up. "If they use it and trust it to protect their cargo from Imperial scanners, I think we can trust it to do the same for us."

She had to admit that the man had a point. She smiled. "Very well then. When do I leave, and how?"

"The_Lone Star Princess_ leaves Coronet Spaceport in two days' time, and you will be aboard it. Officer Triden will travel with you, for security as much as anything. As for how- you'll be Seila Charrd still, travelling with your good friend Renn to Alderaan after he won enough in a Sabbacc tournament to afford the trip."

Leia smiled. "Then I hope your luck holds true, Renn," she said turning to him. "And let us reach Alderaan safely." Renn Triden grinned easily.

"Hey, Princess," he said. "Luck is my speciality."

Something in the way he said that, probably the note of smugness in his voice, irritated Leia for some reason, but she told herself to calm down. All Corellians seemed to be like that. Besides, she would only be with him for a few days more. She wouldn't have to stick his ego forever.

Khaneen offered to let Leia stay in her apartment, an offer that the Alderaanian princess accepted gratefully. Over the next day, she and Renn Triden were briefed extensively on their assignment, complete with contingency plans, and furnished with everything they needed.

Then Leia found herself standing in line to board a public transport ship for the second time in three days. The _Lone Star Princess_ was a big ship, not quite as big as the famous _Queen of Empire_, but Leia didn't think there was all that much of a difference in terms of size. However, the _Princess_ had a reputation of its own, one that discouraged most honest, well-off citizens from travelling on it. If you were not rich or important, you could be killed here without anyone necessarily doing anything about it. But passage on the _Lone Star Princess_ was cheap, very cheap. It was, in short, the perfect ship for the rebellion.

She was nervous at customs control, but did not let any of it show as the officials scanned her luggage. The scanner-proof compartments were, after all, supposed to be just that, and the Alliance were not sloppy in their security measures. Renn winked at her after she was waved through, but she could tell that he'd been worried as well, ever so slightly.

She sank down onto her cot once she was in her cabin. Her trunk containing the prize cargo was safely stashed away, and for the moment she could just relax. It wasn't often that she got to do that, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Her image as a lower-class mechanic did not allow for a cabin that was in any way elaborate, so it lacked any amenities like an autochef or any such thing. The most it could boast of was a small 'fresher unit. Leia and Renn had dinner together in one of the cheaper restaurants on board.

"I ran into some friends," Renn Triden said casually, over traladon steak and Ithorian green salad.

Leia's eyebrow rose of their own accord. "Did you really?"

"Yeah, I did. You know Dray, don't you?"

Leia nodded, although she had never even heard that name before. Likely it wasn't even the guy's real name anyway.

"How are things with him these days?"

"Oh, he's doing quite well," Renn replied, giving the "all-clear" code. Whoever "Dray" really was, Renn could trust him unconditionally.

"That's good. Did you invite him along?"

Renn Triden nodded. "They should be along soon."

"They" turned out to be three in number - two human men and a female Twi'lek. Leia didn't know any of them, but acted as if she did. After dinner, Renn invited all of them over to his cabin, where Leia found out who her supposed friends actually were.

Laa'ira Noran was a Twi'lek who had been rescued from Ylesia in a raid led by Bria Tharen about five years ago. She had joined the rebellion out of gratitude and because her idealism needed a focus. Dray Raiven, a human, was dark-haired and dark-eyed like the Corellian he was, with a face that, while it wasn't exactly handsome, made him stand out in a crowd- but then, a lot of Corellians did. Thale Marindi, a human, was a bright youth maybe a year or so younger than Leia.

"There are two more aboard," Thale said in his soft accent.

"But you didn't know anything about us." Although she phrased it as a statement, Leia intended it to be a question, and Thale picked up on that straightaway. He shook his head.

"No, we didn't. We wouldn't even have made contact, except for Dray stumbling across Triden here."

"Well, it's good to know that there are friends aboard," Leia said.

Dray nodded vigorously. "Sure is. And it's a great honour to meet Your Highness again."

Laa'ira stared at her colleague. "What?"

Dray ignored her and bowed to Leia.

Leia just looked at him. "How do you know who I am?"

"In truth, few people would recognise you, Princess, but my memory is good, very good."

Leia studied him. Now he mentioned it, his face looked familiar too. Leia had a good memory for faces, developed through having to remember so many cousins and other relatives. He looked vaguely familiar.

"Princess? Princess Leia of Alderaan?" Laa'ira's headtails were twitching.

Dray - that's not his real name! - nodded, grinning triumphantly at being right and looking even more familiar.

He looked at Leia, still grinning. "Do you know who I am yet?"

Leia shook her head wordlessly, trying - and failing - to place him. He seemed pleased by her inability to do so.

"Well, what do you know. My disguise is better than I thought. Maybe all that training had some effect after all. I must tell Piggy that."

And suddenly, she had it. "Wedge Antilles!"

On impulse, she hugged the young fighter pilot. A grin was spread all over Wedge's face as he looked at her.

"Leia, it's good to see you again."

"And you, Wedge."

She had met Wedge Antilles a year before, under less-than-favourable conditions that she preferred not to think about. It had been far too close. But Wedge had become a friend, and Leia instantly relaxed at the knowledge that he was around. She knew that she could and would trust him with her life if she had to.

"So I take it you two have met before, huh?" Renn smiled as he looked at them both.

Wedge nodded. "Yeah, we did. But it's a long story."

"A very long story," Leia added. "Most of it unpleasant."

Renn nodded. "Right. Well, is your mission classified, Antilles, or can you tell?"

Wedge shook his head. "Not classified. Technically, it's not even a mission. We're en route to "reinforce the outpost" you might say. What about you?"

Leia shook her head. "Classified, Wedge. Maybe I'll tell you some other time."

"Yeah, you do that." Wedge was used to the need-to-know system employed to distribute information among the rebels just as Leia was.

They stayed a bit longer, just chatting, then Wedge accompanied Leia back to her cabin and left, saying he would meet her tomorrow.

* * *

Leia woke up clenching her fists so tightly that her palms hurt. It took her less than a second to remember where she was. Feeling not the disorientation, which was unusual when one woke up in the middle of the night, she propped herself up on her elbows. She could not see the chrono from where she lay, but the night felt old. Old, and threatening. She sat up and waved on the light. Little discoloured grooves on her palms marked the places where her fingernails had dug into the skin. Leia swung her legs out of bed and stood up. Looking up at the chrono, she saw that it was still hours to go till the morning, but whatever had awakened her, it was not the feeling that it was time to get up. This had nothing to do with a biological clock; it was just an intuition or something. Still, Leia had always found her instincts fairly reliable, and she had come to trust them.

She grabbed her coverall and pulled on her boots. She considered taking out the blaster concealed in her flight duffel, but decided that the chance of discovery was too great. Not that she knew what she was going to do; she did not know of any threat or danger of any sort, and other than prowl around the ship, there was little she could do.

Any decision was taken from her by a knock at the door. Leia took a step towards it, but stopped short as her caution and countless lessons in security intervened.

"Who's there?" she called, thinking it was Renn or Wedge or someone.

"A friend," the answer came back. It was not a voice she knew, but she remembered Laa'ira's mention of two more rebels being aboard the_Princess_.

"How are things, friend?" she asked. It was the best she could come up with, on the spur of the moment.  
"Doing quite well, thank you, Seila."

Her mind made up, she punched in the code and the door slid to the side. A man stood framed in the doorway: quite tall, blond-haired and, as far as Leia could see, blue-eyed.

He stepped past her into the cabin. "There's danger afoot," he said hurriedly. "You have to get out of here. Where's the prize?"

"The prize" was rebel slang and in this case referred to the antiques stashed away in Leia's trunk.

"What kind of danger?" she asked, reluctant to let him know about the trunk.

"I think you may have been betrayed," he said quietly. "I overheard a conversation implying as much."

Leia nodded, fear settling into the pit of her stomach. It fit in with the odd feeling that something was not quite right. But still, something was missing.

"How do you know about the prize?" she asked. "That's classified information."

"I was talking to Renn Triden just now. He told me to come get you along with it. You need to get out of here, Seila."

The urgency in his voice was catching. But there was just one more little detail. If he'd really been talking to Renn...

"Peace with you," she said. He just looked at her, expectantly, apparently waiting for her to get the trunk.

When she didn't move, he replied. "And with you."

Wrong countersign. In fact, Leia was willing to bet that he hadn't even recognised the request for one.

She shook her head. "Get out," she said. "Get out before I call security."

He lunged at her, but she had anticipated his move and dodged his attack. He came about easily, and pulled something from his belt. Leia had time to recognise a vibro-blade before she threw herself onto the cot. She rolled off the other side and landed in a crouch.

Her attacker moved around the bed, holding the blade out in front of him. She waited, poised.

"Give it up, rebel," the man said, pointing the vibro-blade at her. "You can't win, give up the relics."

His calling her rebel shocked her more than the vibro-blade. How much did he know, she thought frantically.

Unsure of whether her cover had been blown completely, she held up both hands and slowly stood up.

"All right," she said, "all right, don't hurt me."

He stood silently as she straightened and walked slowly around the cot, making for the small closet in the corner beside the 'fresher.

She walked past, aware of him turning to match her progress.

"Just one thing," she said, coming to a stop and facing him. "Will you let me go if I give it to you? Will I go to prison?"

"What do you expect, sister? You're a rebel."

"Not really. It was just a job. I needed the money."

"Well you'll just have to explain that to the governor, won't you?"

Leia fastened pleading eyes on him. "I needed the money," she repeated. "How was I to know these rebel fools would mess it up?"

"How were you to know not all them were loyal, eh?" he said, grinning.

Ignoring the shock his words caused to spread all through her body, she continued to plead. "But you could at least mention it in your report, couldn't you?"

"Well," he said, considering, "I guess I could."

"Please," she implored. "Please, 'cause I really can't afford to-"

He never found out what she couldn't afford. In the middle of her wide-eyed appeal, she lashed out at him, knowing precisely where to aim. Her hand connected with his, grabbing his wrist. She brought her knee up to hit his midsection, and he staggered back a step before he managed to recover his feet. She moved with him, knowing that the element of surprise was the only advantage she had. They wrestled for the blade and their lives, and Leia knew that he was stronger than her.

She kicked out aimlessly, not caring where she hit, and his harp intake of breath told her that it had been sore. He brought his knee up, but she twisted to the side and swept her foot across his shins. His heavy boots absorbed the impact easily.

She let go of his wrist and brought her foot up in a high kick that connected solidly with his wrist. The vibro-blade was knocked out of his hand and fell to the ground halfway across the room, out of reach. He rammed hi fist into her stomach, nearly winding her. A few centimetres up and it would've done just that. She recovered quickly, finding him backing towards the vibro-blade. If he reached it, she knew, she would be dead.

She lunged at him, foot lashing out in a technique she had only mastered recently. She pulled it off this time, her foot connecting with his chest, sending him sprawling backwards. She came down in a crouch, ready for the counterattack. He threw himself at her, using brute force to send her staggering backwards. His fist hit her jaw with almost enough force to break it, and she tasted blood. He turned quickly while she was trying to recover, and made for the vibro-blade on the ground.

Through the slight haze before her eyes, Leia saw his intent. She launched herself forward, leaping at him with the one intent: to keep him from reaching his weapon. She was not fool enough to think that she could distract him a second time. She landed just as he wheeled around. He barely had enough time to cover himself before she lashed out once more, this time with her knee.

She hit him off-centre but with enough force to distract him for a split second. Cocking her arm back, she let fly with all her strength, her fist impacting full-force with his temple. He blinked, apparently fighting back impending blackness. Leia made to reach the blade herself, but her attacker knocked her over, throwing her to the ground. She rolled to absorb the impact, and threw herself at him.

Wrestling, they rolled over the deck. Only Leia's training in various fighting techniques saved her now; she could only make up through skill what she lacked in terms of size, weight and sheer strength. She had always hated wrestling, and save for a few tricks she had learned she could not have hoped to even have the slightest chance in this contest. She managed to heave her attacker off her, then she struggled to her feet, finding him doing likewise.

He came at her, murder in his eyes, bleeding from a shallow cut on his forehead. He must've hit it on his way down, she figured. She dodged his next blow with relative ease, only to ram her head into his stomach. Winded, the man staggered back, holding his middle. Leia turned quickly, her lesser weight making it easier to redirect her momentum. She lunged for the vibro-blade, throwing herself towards it. She felt metal and her fingers closed around the grip. A flick of her thumb, and it hummed to life, glittering dangerously in the light.

Her attacker heard it too; his eyes opened wide and he charged at her. She scrambled to her feet, stood up just as he reached her. She sidestepped deftly, barely avoiding his attack, then turned to face him. He wheeled around, murderous intent flashing in his blue eyes. She acted on impulse, almost entirely out of reflex.

The blade shot out, piercing through his jumpsuit and his flesh, found his heart. He staggered slightly, looked at her with empty eyes, as if unable to believe what had just happened to him. Then he sagged forward, his lifeless body hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Breathing hard, Leia stared down at him. She thumbed the vibro-blade off and let it fall from her hand, clattering to the floor beside the man she had just killed with it. Thousands of thoughts swept through her mind at lightspeed, fragments of shock and fear and remorse. She gave herself a mental shake. That man had known she was a rebel, and chances were high that he was not alone on the ship.

_Get yourself together. Renn and Wedge are still out there_.


	6. Chapter 6

She knew only too well how pointless calling security was - they were probably in the pay of the Imperials, and even if they weren't, Leia knew better than to expect them to get involved in disputes like this one. She would have to handle it herself. Well, not entirely by herself.

She turned away from her attacker - at a guess, he was Imperial, but she couldn't bring herself to search him - but took his blaster along with his belt which she buckled on, figuring she'd be glad of the attached holster later on. With the weapon in her hand she felt safer. She opened the door cautiously, covering herself with the blaster.

The corridor was deserted. All was silent and dark out here. Leia crept out, gripping the blaster firmly but keeping it down to lower the risk of it being noticed. Renn Triden's cabin was, thankfully, on the same corridor as her own.

She made it about halfway there before the entire ship lurched, with enough force to send her staggering forward. Looking out the nearest viewport, she saw long flashes of starlight, resolving themselves into stars hanging in the blackness of space. She frowned thoughtfully. They could not possibly be at Commenor yet.

She regained her composure and reached Renn's cabin a minute later. Her knocks went unnoticed at first, and Leia gave silent thanks when she finally heard Renn Triden's voice.

"Who's there?"

"A friend," she called back. The countersign system had just been thrown up, but Renn didn't know that.

"At this hour?"

"Yes, at this hour."

"Well, peace with you."

"They're against it."

The door opened to reveal Renn Triden's blaster nozzle. It sank down as Renn recognised her. He was half-dressed, wearing pants, an open shirt, and one boot. His dark hair stuck out at random, but Leia figured that her own probably didn't look any better. At least she had left it tied back before going to sleep. Anyway, too late to worry about that now.

She stepped past Renn Triden into his cabin. As soon as the door closed, he turned around to her, alarm on his features.

"What in all nine hells are you doing, Leia? What happened?"

"We've been discovered," she told him. Before she could continue, the ship's intercom crackled to life with the captain's voice.

"Attention all passengers. This is the captain. We have been forced out of hyperspace by an interdictor cruiser. Unknown raider ships are even now docking with the _Lone Star Princess_. A distress call has been dispatched. In the interests of security, I urge everyone to remain calm."

Renn Triden stared at Leia. "We've been found?"

She nodded and related everything to him, and he listened with growing discomfort even as he finished getting dressed.

"Right," he said when she was finished. "So they had operatives on board, and they know where your cabin is. I'm sure your attacker had reinforcements on the way. We've got to get the stuff out of there."

"Where to?" Leia asked. "They're sure to have seen us together."

"We've got to get off the ship," Renn told her. "We'll have to steal one of theirs."

She frowned. "We'll never make it, just the two of us."

He shook his head. "No. Forget about classified. It's time to tell Wedge and the others. Go raise them, I'll get the trunk and meet you back here, right?"

She nodded, then ran along the corridor towards Wedge's cabin.

* * *

Renn Triden watched her leave, then he too crept out into the corridor, making for Leia's cabin. It was so ironic, really, that she was depending on him to save her life. But circumstances nonwithstanding, he was going to do his best to ensure her survival. And to prevent his own.

They had him, now, and he knew better than to think that this would be the last assignment, the last treachery. They were never going to let him out of their grasp. The only way out was death. And Renn Triden was willing to accept that. He had made a mistake, he had been captured, and he was going to die for it. He was no different to all the other rebels who had died in interrogation. Except that Renn Triden had the chance to save Leia Organa's life before he died. Not a bad way to go, all things considered.

He let himself into the cabin. The light was still on, and a man lay sprawled on the ground.

Renn knelt beside the body, turning the man over. Blond hair was stuck to his forehead, courtesy of the blood that had seeped from a cut. He closed the man's eyes, cursing softly. Doubtless Leia had had no other choice - he knew that she hated killing - but there would be questions. Well, no sense in worrying about that now. With any luck, they'd soon be gone from this cursed ship.

He fetched the trunk from the closet and activated the small repulsor field underneath it. The thing was blasted heavy. He pulled it along behind him, leaving Leia's attacker behind him. He'd be found soon enough anyway.

He made sure the door was locked before hurrying back to his cabin. There was one small comfort in seeing the man's corpse - he now knew that Leia Organa was well able to fight.

She was already waiting with Wedge and Laa'ira, as well as a Bothan who Renn did not know.

"Got it," he said.

Wedge nodded. "We'll get you a ship. I've got the others on the way. Come on."

The five of them made their way along the winding corridors towards the docking berths.

They made it about halfway there before the whole thing went straight to hell.

A blaster rang out, narrowly missing Wedge's head. Leia and Renn wheeled around, firing retorts, and the corridor erupted in light.

"Go!" Leia heard Wedge shout. "Get out of here!"

The Bothan seemed about to refuse, but Wedge repeated the order firmly and he tore off down the corridor, pulling the trunk along behind him.

Renn Triden reached out and pulled Leia around the corner after him. Wedge followed, throwing himself on the ground to avoid being struck by a blaster bolt. Leia regained her balance and reached out her blaster, squeezing the trigger without any idea whether she was hitting anyone. At least it would slow them down.

Wedge came around behind her, and his blaster rang in her ears as he too opened fire.

"Go," he said, gesturing with his free hand. "Go, Leia, I'll cover."

She followed the order, running down the corridor and turning off at the nearest corner. She looked around the edge to see Renn running to join her, closely followed by Wedge. Both men were continually turning to fire at their pursuers who were just reaching the corner.

"Keep going," Wedge panted as soon as he reached Leia. "Follow me."

He tore off down the corridor like the trained soldier he was. Leia ran after him, aware of Renn covering their retreat. For retreat it was; even Corellians were not fool enough to try making a stand in this case.

They were nearing the more populated part of the ship now, with its restaurants and clubs. Wedge kept running, rounding several corners and eventually disappearing into a sleazier-looking nightclub. Leia followed, despite the fact that it was a place that Princess Leia Organa would never visit. She kept an eye on Wedge's back, trying not to lose him in the crowd. He stopped then, turned around, and waited for her to catch up. When she came up beside him, he draped an arm around her in a casual sort of way, before continuing to walk further into the murky, seedy-looking club. She stuck her blaster back into the holster and let Wedge guide her through the crowd.

They reached a door at the back, and Leia took a moment before she recognised it as a turbolift. Wedge punched a command into the controls, then he and Leia stepped into the lift tube.

"Renn?" she asked quietly. Wedge shook his head.

"He'll join us in a few minutes." He sent the turbolift down three levels, and spent the seconds-long trip checking the power level in his blaster. Leia took her own back out of the holster.


	7. Chapter 7

By now, the news of the "raiders" had chased everyone out of their cabins and bar booths into the corridors. As patience-draining and annoying as a panicked crowd tended to be, Leia was glad of it now. It was much easier to lose pursuit in a crowd.

Renn Triden stepped out of a lift tube a few meters further down the corridor, and jostled his way over to Leia and Wedge.

"Let's go."

Wedge took the lead, making his way through the crowd, apparently sure of where he was going. Leia followed close behind, continually glancing over her shoulder to check for pursuit. She could see little in the crowd, but the good side to that was that she and the two men would be equally hard to pinpoint.  
They were on the same level as the docking bay now. The bays were apparently not a popular destination at the moment; most people knew that the best tactic when it came to raiders was surrender. But there were cases where surrender was simply not an option. Such as this one.

Leia kept a hand near her holster as she hurried along the corridor. There was another reason to stay away from the docking bays: it was where the raiders were coming from, naturally, and running into them headfirst was generally speaking not a good idea. But again, there were special cases.

Hearing a noise behind her, Leia whirled round, hand tightening on her blaster. She recognised Laa'ira Noran a split second later, followed by the Bothan who still pulled the trunk on its repulsor, and Thale Marindi.

"Keep going," Laa'ira called out.

Wedge did not follow the order. "What about Nods?"

Laa'ira shook her head, catching up with Leia and the rest. "Shot."

"Blast!" Wedge cursed, an old Corellian curse that Leia hadn't heard since she'd met him. "Well, let's go."

He continued to walk down the corridor at a fast pace.

And then, suddenly, all hell broke loose again. Just as the rebels were rounding another corner, eight Imperials came running out of a side corridor. Leia kept her calm and kept walking as if she had nothing to worry about, but Thale was apparently very new to the rebellion and didn't have much experience. He snapped.

Whipping out his blaster, he fired two shots in quick succession and one of the Imperials collapsed with a scream. That was enough for the other seven. They retaliated immediately, and Leia found herself being dragged back around the corner by Renn Triden as blaster bolts flew.

She heard Wedge's curse, barely audible over the sudden confusion and noise.

"Back, Renn!" Wedge shouted. "Get her out of here!"

Renn tugged at Leia's arm. "Let's go, you heard him."

"But-"

"No time." He pulled her along behind him and she realised that she was only wasting her energy by trying to resist. Energy she would no doubt need later. Once Renn Triden noticed that she was following him of her own accord, he let go of her arm.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. The hand holding her blaster tensed as she risked a quick glance back, but she recognised Thale Marindi. The kid was pulling the prize trunk along behind him and running as fast as he could.

Reaching the next corner, Renn skidded to a stop and Leia managed to stop just in time to avoid crashing into him. He called a turbolift and ushered Leia and Thale inside.

"What are you doing here, kid?" he asked, gasping for breath.

Thale shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't think. Wedge told me to take the trunk and follow you. To tell you where to go."

He took a deep breath. "Sorry. This is all my fault, ain't it?"

Renn Triden shook his head. "No. It's the Imperials' fault if at all."

Leia smiled at Thale. "He's right. Don't worry about it."

Coming from Princess Leia Organa, it seemed to reassure Thale considerably, because he smiled back, a shy, small grin, clearly trying to look confident.

Renn sent the turbolift to the bottom level when they had left it, to delay any pursuit. He looked around, trying to figure out where to go.

Thale pushed past him and started down another corridor. "This way."

Leia and Renn exchanged a glance, and followed the youth. He led them around another corner, then along another short stretch of the corridor.

A faint, barely audible noise was all the warning Leia got, but she acted instantly. "Back!"

She tugged Thale behind her into the entrance to a utility compartment. "Can you get it open?" she asked as another group of Imperials began to fire on them. Apparently word had spread.

"Yeah, hold on..."

Leia breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the door whisper open. She caught sight of Renn Triden, firing from around the dubious cover provided by a doorframe. She lifted her own blaster and started firing.

Thale pulled her into the utility compartment after him, and she peeked out only enough to aim properly.

"Thale!" Renn shouted over the din caused by blaster reports and ricochets, "Take the trunk and go, we'll cover!"

Leia grabbed Thale's arm as he was about to comply with the order. "I'll go."

She wasn't about to risk the kid's life purposely after having dragged him and Wedge and the others into this mess.

Any objection he might have made died on his lips when she fixed him with a look. Her father had always told her that sometimes her stare could impale a rancor. It certainly convinced Thale not to argue.

She grabbed the handle of the trunk and took a deep breath before plunging right into the fray. She was careful to keep the trunk between her and the Imperial blasters as she ran.

"Leia!"

She heard Renn's shout, as she'd known she would, but it was too late to turn back now anyway. She twisted her upper body around to fire as she ran. In this case, her slight build was of advantage, making her a smaller target.

She felt a jolt from the trunk as a blaster bolt hit it, and gave thanks that it had not been her back. Gritting her teeth, she kept retreating down the corridor, firing occasionally.

A blaster bolt sizzled past, far too close for comfort, and she jerked her head back involuntarily. Then a sharp pain burned into her arm as one of the Imperials found his target. She hissed with pain but kept going, half-blinded by the tears that sprang to her eyes despite her best efforts.

Finally reaching the junction, she threw herself around the corner, remembering just in time to give the trunk a final tug so it slid around the corner after her. She got to her feet, swaying slightly, and ran a fast physical assessment. The bolt had grazed her left arm and she could see blood seeping past the frayed edges of the fabric of her sleeve. But it was only seeping, not running, so fixing it up was going to have to wait. Right now, she had a job to do.

She craned her neck to look back around the corner and saw that Renn Triden and Thale were now retreating in turn, taking cover behind various doorframes as they went. Leia lifted her blaster and started firing again, hitting one of the Imperials square in the chest. The man fell back.

She fired again, but it must've been luck that time, because this time she missed completely. _Never mind. Keep firing._

And then she saw Thale go down with a yell. Renn Triden gave a shout and left cover. Picking the young rebel up, he threw Thale over his shoulder and ran towards Leia full tilt. He skidded around the corner and into provisional safety.

Leia heard him over the noise of all the firing, sounding concerned. "Thale! Hey, kid, you okay?"

She wanted to turn around, to help, but instead she kept firing, to keep the attackers at bay. She took out two more. Smoke was beginning to fill the corridor, and sight was poor, but she kept shooting, because if nothing else it would discourage them from coming any closer.

And then, as abruptly as it had started, it was all over. Leia took another deep breath, then she holstered her blaster and turned to her companions. Renn Triden was kneeling on the ground beside Thale. Blood was pooling on the ground beside his legs, despite Renn's efforts to staunch the wound. The slackness of his body told Leia the bitter truth. Leia felt grief grip at her heart, at the sight of the youth who she had barely known and who had fought and died so bravely for the cause. For her mission.

"Hotshot, do you copy?" Renn was all but shouting into his comlink.

Wedge's voice came back straightaway, sounding worried. "Hotshot here. Target, what's wrong?"

The comlinks were supposedly using a secure channel, but there was always the risk of their transmissions being recorded and decrypted later. And while their actual plans wouldn't matter anymore then, using call signs prevented the Imperials from identifying them.

"We've got a casualty. The kid didn't make it. I'm sorry."

Wedge's curse came over the comlink.

"Where do we go now?"

Wedge's voice came back with instructions, but Leia couldn't understand him properly.

Renn signed off, went down on one knee and closed Thale's eyes. He lifted the youth's body and motioned to Leia. "C'mon, let's go."

Leia followed as he jogged down the corridor.

Entrances to docking bays lined this one, and knowing that they were close to their destination filled her with relief and apprehension at the same time. There was bound to be another firefight, Leia knew.

Renn stopped between docking bays 13 and 14. He touched a control in the wall and an access hatch slid to the side to reveal a narrow service shaft, used mostly by droids. Renn motioned her in ahead of him, and she heard the hatch shut behind him as he followed her. After too short a time to get claustrophobic, she felt Renn touch her shoulder. When she twisted around to look at him, he pointed to a small vent in the wall.

"Through there," he said.

She looked at him, dubious.

"They'll hear it if I blast the wall," she told him.

He shook his head and shrugged. "Nothing we can do about it."

She looked at him, the thought "crazy Corellian" flashing through her mind, but when he didn't crack a smile she just shook her head, exasperated but resigned. She lifted her blaster and fired. She winced at the noise, thinking that surely no one was going to miss it. The shot melted the cover of the vent, clearing the way.

She risked a look through the opening. The scene that met her eyes was completely tranquil compared to what she'd feared - expected, even.

An old SoroSuub freighter was docked in the bay, along with two Z-95 Headhunters. Both were ship types often used by raiders. You couldn't fault the Empire for sloppiness in preparing its missions, anyway.

A few guards were lounging around the bay, but they seemed to be quite relaxed. They were wearing gear suited to their "raider" image, but Leia could tell that although they were working for the Empire, they were not stormtroopers in disguise. There was an air of casualness about them that stormtroopers never had.


	8. Chapter 8

"Right, all's quiet. What now?" she asked. Renn laid Thale's body down on the ground. He crept past her, hunkered down beside the vent and raised his comlink. "Hotshot? Target here."

Wedge's voice came back, sounding tinny and faint. "I copy, Target. Where are you?"

"In the maintenance shaft, right beside the vent. We're good to go."

"Right. Can you get down okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good. We're on the other side of the bay, one level below you. You drop down and open fire when you're ready. When you've got them distracted, we'll make a break for the ship. Got that?"

"We copy, Hotshot."

"Good. May the Force be with you."

"You, too."

Renn signed off and turned to Leia. "Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Right, let's go."

He dropped through the vent. Leia followed suit. She landed on her feet behind a stack of cargo containers, amazed that none of the guards seemed to have noticed anything.

Renn flashed her a grin that was almost manic, and propped his blaster on the top of the stack. She followed his example, lining up a target in her sights and waiting for the go-ahead.

_Father, I know you would never agree, and I'm sorry, but it's necessary. _

"We're down and hidden, Hotshot."

"Good. Signal when you've got their attention." Renn double-clicked his comlink to confirm the order.

He turned to Leia. "Come on."

His weapon rang out, and then Leia started shooting too. The guard fell to the deck with a smoking hole in his chest, and Leia targeted another one. She missed that time, because the man threw himself into the cover of one of the Headhunters.

The guards were seeking cover now, and returning fire steadily. After another ten seconds or so, Renn keyed his comlink. "Target here. Hotshot, go ahead."

"Copy that, Target."

Leia fired again while moving to the right, keeping behind the cargo containers. A door at the opposite side slid open and Leia saw four figures run through it and towards the ship. The guards were still firing at Leia and Renn, and Leia intended to keep it that way. As long as their attention was focused on her, Wedge and the others were relatively safe. And racing across fairly open space like they were, that was only good.

"Oh, sithspit!" Renn cursed.

Leia saw it a split second later: the gun turret of the freighter was moving, tracking towards Wedge and the others. She bit back a yell of warning, it was likely to do more harm than good.

"Stay here, keep shooting."

With that brief order, Renn was under way, crawling along behind the cargo containers until her reached the edge of the stack. Then, to Leia's utter shock and horror, he stepped out from cover. The guards could not hit from where they had taken cover, but he was very much in the firing line of the freighter.

"Renn, no," Leia whispered hoarsely, then she started after him, though what good she could hope to do she wasn't sure.

Renn's blaster rang out again, shots pinging off the hull. If they hadn't noticed him before, they surely would now. The gun turret swung towards him, bearing down ominously.

"Renn, you crazy fool, move!"

Leia's shout did not seem to get any reaction out of him at all. Leia gritted her teeth and kept going, thinking that she might yet reach him before-

The turbolasers of the freighter flashed out towards him. Renn threw himself backwards, but not before one of the laser bolts found its mark. He was flung backwards, hitting the wall with a dull thud.

A blaster bolt zinged past her, barely missing her arm, and she turned around and fired blindly. The guard who had fired at her threw himself back into cover, but she fired again and got him just as he was disappearing from sight. But it had reminded her that she was still in combat. She huddled against the cargo containers, shooting again and again. She fired at a nearby container, hoping to shift it to relieve a guard of his cover. Instead it exploded, making her realise rather belatedly that it had contained fuel of some sort. Flammable fuel at that; the pool of whatever it was on the ground was burning.

She only hoped it wasn't toxic.

The overhead fire extinguishers kicked to life, dispensing anti-flame aerosol to make that part of the bay impossible to see. She did not know if Wedge and the others had made it to the ship. She did not know how many guards were left. She kept firing, in any direction except that of the ship's landing ramp. A figure materialised out of the smoke, which was already beginning to disperse. The guard rushed her, but a blaster bolt struck him from behind and he went down. Well, someone was alive and on her side out there.

And then the freighter's turbolasers roared to life again, mixing with shouts and yells as the chaos increased.  
Ventilators were drawing the smoke away now, and Leia's view was clearing again. Apparently Wedge or someone had made it to the ship, because the lasers were firing at the Imperials now.

A figure crept out from behind a Z-95, out of view from the ship and barely visible from Leia's perch, trying to climb into the cockpit.

Leia adjusted the blaster angle and fired again. With an agonised shriek, the man fell, chest smoking. She waited for another two or three seconds, then she turned away.

Renn Triden was lying on the ground, in a pool of blood, and she knew that it was his own. He moaned softly and tried to turn his head to look at her. From the amount of blood and the overall impression she got from him, she knew that it was serious.

Leia knelt beside him, horror filling her at the sight of the gaping hole in his chest. She ripped a length of fabric off her tunic to staunch the wound.

"Leia..." Renn gasped.

"Shh, quiet. Don't talk. You're going to be fine, you hear me?"

"No." His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. Leia gritted her teeth and mentally told the medics to hurry up.

"Not like that," Renn continued. "Betrayed you, Leia... they made me tell them... I'm sorry."

Shock flashed through her as the realisation settled in. The attack, the Imperials - it all fit together, now. And it meant potential disaster for her.

"Renn," she said urgently, "Renn, listen to me. Do they know who I am?"

His eyes focused on her, and suddenly he smiled, a weak but triumphant smile. "No. No, Seila, they haven't got a clue."

She smiled at him, to show him that she wasn't mad.

"Please tell my family what happened, won't you?"

Leia nodded, fighting back tears.

"Naena..." he whispered, and then he went slack as life left his body. Gently she closed his eyes and laid his body down on the deck.

Tears running down her face, she took the comlink from his belt and keyed it.

"Target here," she said, struggling to control her voice. "Hotshot, do you copy?"

"I copy, Target." She almost cried with relief when she heard Wedge Antilles. "You're clear to come aboard. Where's the prize?"

She explained it to him.

"Copy, Target, bring it over-"

"Negative, Hotshot, I've got a casualty here."

"What- Oh, no. I'll be right over. Wait there."

Seconds later, Wedge appeared, tugging a makeshift bier behind him. Leia helped him lift Renn Triden's body onto it.

"Where's everyone else?"

"It's just us two," Wedge said, "And Laa'ira's in the freighter, lying down. She took quite a beating."

"Just the three of us?" Leia stared at him.

Wedge nodded grimly. "And we have to get out of here. Come on."

Leia nodded. "Sure."

The engines of the freighter _Too Late Now_ hummed to life. Wedge activated the repulsors and the freighter slid backward, turned 180 degrees to point at the stars, and then Wedge hit the engines and the SoroSuub shot from the docking bay. Leia sat beside him in the co-pilot's seat, looking out into space.

"There's the interdictor," she said.

"Right, I see it. We'll have to get past it. It's between us and clear space."

She frowned. "How do we get past an interdictor cruiser?"

He grinned confidently. "Just watch."

The comm cracked once, then a gruff voice filled the cockpit.

"_Too Late Now_, this is the _Outrider_. Thurin, what are you doing? Have you got them?"

Wedge grinned. "We've got them all right," he said, but left the comm deactivated.

"_Too Late Now_, do you copy?"

And then, finally, Wedge toggled the comm switch. "_Too Late Now_ here, I copy, _Outrider_."

"Finally. What took you so long?"

"Technical problems," Wedge said.

There was a pause at the other end of the comm.

"_Too Late Now_, maintain current position. We're readying a tractor beam."

"Oh no, you don't." Thankfully, Wedge was not fool enough to transmit that.

Wedge kept flying towards the _Outrider_, making for clear space beyond the interdictor.

"_Too Late Now_, maintain current position."

"Uhm, how about, no." He was fool enough that time, though. Leia rolled her eyes, wondering why these rebel pilots always had to go asking for trouble. Especially the Corellian pilots.

"_Too Late Now_, surrender immediately, we've got you under our guns."

"Fast, aren't they," Wedge muttered. He brought the freighter's nose to port, swerving to the other side of the _Outrider_.

"Wedge..." Leia said worriedly.

"Don't worry."

"_Too Late Now_, I repeat, surrender or we open fire. Heave to!"

"_Outrider_, this is the _Too Late Now_. I've made it a policy never to surrender, and certainly not to scum like you."

Leia looked at Wedge. "If they were going to go easy on us before, they won't now. I think you've annoyed them."

He grinned. "That's the idea."

"You'll wish you'd taken the opportunity," the _Outrider_ came back. "This is your last chance."

Wedge did not respond. He banked hard to left, then sent the freighter through a series of twists and turns that made Leia's stomach turn the wrong way around.

Alarms started blaring as the _Outrider_ opened fire. Wedge slapped a switch and they cut out.

"I know we're being shot at, stupid thing!" He turned to Leia.

"Don't shoot. If we shoot, they'll get even madder."

She nodded. "Right. Got it."

Wedge sent the freighter hurtling towards the _Outrider_.

"Wedge, in case you haven't noticed, they're trying to shoot us down!"

"Of course I've noticed. I have a plan, trust me."

That was exactly what she hadn't wanted to hear. In her experience, "I have a plan" meant something like "I'm about to pull a really reckless, crazy stunt" among Corellians. But Wedge was, after all, the pilot, meaning that whether she trusted him or not didn't really make a difference.

"_Too Late Now_, I said heave to, not come about."

"I heard that." From Wedge's tone of voice, the officer aboard the _Outrider_ had just called him a name behind his back. Leia smothered a grin and shook her head, exasperated.

Wedge continued his dive towards the interdictor, angling up a bit as he neared it. He sent the freighter hurtling along, nearly skimming the shields of the cruiser and making it impossible for the _Outrider_'s gunners to hit anything. He pulled up sharply at the end of the ship to avoid taking damage from the engine's ion efflux, and spun the _Too Late Now_ on it's axis as he veered sharply away from the interdictor.

The shields flared with a direct hit. Wedge cursed.

"Wedge, I've got new contacts - five, six small fighter craft, coming our way."

"What type?"

"Give me a sec... uh, looks like Headhunters to me. They're coming in fast."

"Oh, great." Wedge actually sounded as if he meant it.

But Leia had no time to ask what he meant, because the Z-95s came into range just then and opened fire.

"They're trying to herd us back to the _Outrider_."

Wedge wrestled with the controls and the freighter banked sharply, angling back towards the _Outrider_.

"What are you doing?!" Leia all but shouted, because now the _Too Late Now_ was effectively caught between two enemies.

"Just watch. And power up the weapons."

"You said no shooting," she reminded him.

"That was then. This is now."

Wedge brought the freighter back to the interdictor, juking and jinking to avoid hits. The shields flared as they absorbed the shots that did hit, but it wasn't nearly as bad as Leia would have expected. The _Too Late Now_ skimmed the _Outrider_'s surface again, but this time with six Headhunters in tow. The gunners still couldn't aim quick enough, and it was only seconds before on of the shots intended for the freighter hit one of the Headhunters, sending it careening into the _Outrider_ in a bright fireball. The interdictor's shield flared as they absorbed the impact.

"Yes," Wedge hissed.

The other Headhunters peeled off to avoid a similar fate, and Wedge brought the _Too Late Now_ around to the underside of the _Outrider_ and turned back towards the _Lone Star Princess_.

Something hit the _Too Late Now_, causing the old freighter to shudder violently.

"Torpedo impact!" Wedge shouted. "Shields down to half. Right, that's it. Leia, get on those lasers."

"You said no shooting," she told him again. "If we shoot, they'll get madder, remember?"

"Yeah, but they've annoyed me now."

"Ah, Wedge!"

Nonetheless, she left the cockpit and climbed into the gun turret. She fired up the lasers and looked for a target. She found one, the Headhunter who had apparently just fired the torpedo, having lurked just above the _Outrider_'s engines and coming about now.

She waited until she had him in her sights, then she loosed a flurry of laser bolts and the Headhunter banked sharply. She swung the targeting reticle around to follow, but he had swerved too far left to show up on the targeting screen.

"Leia, two Headhunters headed your way." Wedge's voice rang in her headset.

"I'm on it."

And there they were, lining up for a firing pass, but she targeted one and destroyed him with a full burst from her quad lasers, and the other one pulled out with a damaged S-foil.

Then the stars started spinning as Wedge sent the freighter through some twists and rolls that Leia had never experienced before, with any pilot. And she was sure that Captain Antilles of the _Tantive_ had never learned any of those manoeuvres at the Alderaan Flight Academy. But then, Wedge had been a smuggler for a while, even though he had helped the Rebel Alliance even then.

Wedge ducked around a Headhunter, but the freighter was moving too fast now for Leia to target anything, much less hit it.

The canopy went dark as another hit nearby caused the shields to flare. Somewhere in the ship, something fell with a crash. Leia tried to see what was going on, but she could not see anything through her canopy. The freighter bucked and shuddered, twisted and turned like a wild thing, and Leia felt dizzy as she tried to climb out of the turret.

When she finally made it into the cockpit, Wedge was working the controls in utter concentration, and she dared not say anything lest she break it. She slipped into the copilot's seat and started making calculations for the jump to lightspeed.

The freighter spun and rolled, scaring one Headhunter off course and nearly causing it to ram another one. Wedge slipped the _Too Late Now_, between two more Headhunters, came about sharply, dived down and broke and inverted loop halfway through and pulled the freighter's nose up slightly. Then, showing skill that was on the other side of impossible, he threaded the freighter past another Headhunter, spun the freighter on its axis as he slipped underneath the interdictor, sent the _Too Late Now_ back up, twirling like a dancing girl, and angled to the left. He pulled up sharply, broke the looping again, pointed the nose of the freighter to the right a bit to avoid another torpedo which detonated behind the freighter as it hit a Headhunter, and rolled to the left.

And suddenly, with a burst of speed, they were clear, leaving Leia to wonder just how Wedge had pulled it off.


	9. Epilogue

Alderaan's sun hung ahead in front of the viewport, bright and glowing. But the bright light had little or nothing to do with the tears in Leia's eyes.

Wedge Antilles stood beside her, brown eyes glistening. The surviving three rebels had gathered here in the launch bay of the _Too Late Now_, watching the bodies of their fallen comrades descend into the sun. Laa'ira had stubbornly insisted on being here, still connected to flashing indicators and all but plastered with bacta patches.  
Another tear traced its way down Leia's face as she thought of Nods and Thale, both of whom she'd hardly known, and yet they'd given their lives so that she could fulfil her mission.

And Renn, who she'd only just begun to know better. She had recorded a holomessage for Naena Triden during the transit through hyperspace, telling her of her husband's death, and Wedge had assured her that he could easily get it delivered to the woman.

She had told Wedge the truth behind the attack on the _Lone Star Princess_. They had agreed to keep it quiet - someday, people would know the real reason why the ship had been attacked, but not now when the grief over Nods and Thale was still too fresh. Leia knew that Renn had been blackmailed him into revealing her plans. And although she had no real proof, she was sure that he had died intentionally, to avoid having to betray any more of his comrades. He deserved to be remembered as a hero, not a traitor.

Wedge had also assuaged her fears that the Imperials might now harm Renn's family when they learned of his death. Apparently, Wedge knew the man in charge at least superficially, and he'd been convinced that the man was not one to kill or hurt needlessly.

She was glad that Wedge had made it out alive. The blaster burn in his side had healed well, and after a day or so in a bacta tank on Alderaan little or no trace of it would remain. Leia was glad of it; Wedge was a friend, and moreover a terrific pilot. She had no doubts that he would make a name for himself someday. He certainly deserved it.

The bodies were no longer visible by the naked eye. Leia knew that it would be a long time before they actually descended far enough to catch fire. She and the _Too Late Now_ would not be around when that happened.  
She felt loneliness wash over her and wished she was back on Alderaan with her father and Winter.  
_Lone Star Princess_... Leia reflected wryly that the name could be her own title too, standing apart from the others in the universe, different to the other rebels and the other senators, never resting until freedom and justice prevailed. And probably not after that, either - she had no reason to expect the universe to ever leave her alone for very long.

But she'd accepted that back when she'd first joined the rebellion. She'd keep fighting, and she'd be lonely, but in the end all would be worth it if the rebellion won.

The _Too Late Now_ was drifting ever closer to the sun, and Wedge left the launch bay to get them on course to Alderaan.

Alderaan, and Bail Organa.

Leia took one last look at the bright fiery glory that was Alderaan's sun, burning like the dream of freedom within her. As she helped Laa'ira back to her bunk, she found herself thinking about the upcoming mission to Ralltiir on which she was almost sure to be going. And go she would.

The intercom crackled to life with Wedge's voice.

"Right, ladies, next stop: Alderaan."

Leia smiled. Next stop after that: Ralltiir. _And after that - who knows?_

With a sudden sense of premonition, she thought that she was not likely to be getting much rest in the near future. Almost as if the events on the _Lone Star Princess_ had only been the tremors of an upcoming earthquake. Somehow, it wouldn't surprise her at all.

**The Beginning…**


End file.
